Planned Annexation at Quentin and Route 22 Paves Way for Mariano’s

Now that the , potential development in the area may be just over the horizon.

The village of Lake Zurich has scheduled annexation of the property for Monday, Feb. 6, said Dan Peterson, director of building and zoning.

“Once the property is annexed, then is when the developer can come through the zoning and development process,” Peterson said.

Chicago-based developer Bradford Group has shown serious interest in building a 70,000-square-foot Mariano’s Fresh Market at the northwest corner of the intersection, where Cedar Hill Nursery stands. 

The property has been called the Cedar Hill property, as well as the .

The corner has been the focal point in a land fight involving the village of Lake Zurich and Hawthorn Woods.

Kildeer also has a stake in a portion of the total acreage, based on a boundary agreement established in 1993 with Lake Zurich.

All three villages were able to settle on a tri-community agreement by the end of December 2011, to make way for potential new development and avoid future litigation over each village’s interest in which sections of property.

The agreement between all three consists of revenue sharing of sales and property taxes that come from future development. The percentage each village receives varies in degree, depending on the different sections of land within the area and how they are developed.

Sales tax revenues for the Cedar Hill property will be paid to Lake Zurich, which will receive 40 percent of the total, while 20 percent will go to Hawthorn Woods and the remaining 40 percent is to be earmarked for Kildeer, according to the agreement approved by the Lake Zurich Village Board on Dec. 19.

Property taxes generated from the Cedar Hill property will be divided between Lake Zurich and Kildeer, 75 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

The Cummings property, at the southwest corner of the intersection and south on Quentin to the Coventry Creek subdivision, has a different divvy of revenues.

Lake Zurich will get 50 percent of sales tax revenues and Hawthorn Woods will receive 10 percent. Kildeer will get the remaining 40 percent.

Property taxes generated from the Cummings property will go entirely to the village of Lake Zurich. 

Sales tax revenues resulting from future development on the Dartmoor property — located on the east side of Quentin Road and north of Route 22 — will be paid to Hawthorn Woods, which will receive 75 percent; Lake Zurich will get 25 percent.

No sales tax dollars will be allocated to Kildeer, per the agreement.

Hawthorn Woods will be the sole recipient for any property taxes generated from future development on the Dartmoor property.

The entire arrangement caps off not only the legal battle, but also longstanding boundary agreements between Lake Zurich and its neighbors.

“We’ve worked for two years with Hawthorn Woods and 17 years with Kildeer to work out our boundary and intergovernmental agreements; the revenue-sharing agreement to annex the territory will allow us all to go forward with commercial retail developments,” Peterson said.

Once the annexation is complete, Mariano’s can come before the village of Lake Zurich for a courtesy review, which helps to gauge sentiment of the board on whether the project should move forward.

The annexation also will change property tax bills for residential and business properties west of Quentin Road. The village of Lake Zurich’s portion of the property tax will come onto their bill, but the charge for Lake Zurich fire protection will be removed since it is included in property taxes.

In addition, residential or business owners west of Quentin Road will follow the village of Lake Zurich process instead of Lake County’s if they ultimately decide to develop.

The pending annexation will mark the end of a sometimes dramatic legal back and forth between Lake Zurich and Hawthorn Woods.

In June 2011, Lake County Judge Mitchell Hoffman issued a temporary restraining order that stopped Hawthorn Woods and Lake Zurich from annexing properties into their respective villages.

Then, .

In September 2011, Hawthorn Woods filed a complaint after learning Lake Zurich planned to hold a public hearing Oct. 3 on a forcible annexation of the property.

So the public hearing and vote by the Lake Zurich board were unable move forward.

Then in November and December 2011, the two sides and Kildeer decided to come together to find a solution that benefitted all three villages.

Hawthorn Woods and Kildeer approved the revenue-sharing agreement in early December. The Lake Zurich board approved the meeting at its last meeting of 2011.